Las Vegas jobless rate improves — but still among highest in US

Las Vegas’ unemployment rate edged down to 5.4 percent in July, a decline from 5.9 percent during the same month last year, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Despite the improvement, Southern Nevada’s jobless rate remained the sixth highest among the 56 metropolitan areas nationwide with at least one million residents each, the bureau reported. Among those metros, Honolulu posted the lowest July rate at 2.8 percent, while Fresno, California, topped the list at 7.7 percent. Metro‑level jobless rates are not seasonally adjusted, meaning they are not stripped of typical seasonal fluctuations in headcount. Southern Nevada depends heavily on visitors who come to spend on dining, drinking, gambling, entertainment, shows and conventions to fuel the local economy. Locally and nationally, personal finances have been squeezed this year by higher state prices and elevated inflation, but visitor volume to America’s casino superior has leveled off after a noticeable decline the prior year. Overall, employment in the Las Vegas area rose by 2,300 jobs, or 0.2 percent, from June to July, according to the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, citing seasonally adjusted figures. Still, as national officials noted last week, even though Las Vegas’ job growth surpassed the national average early this year, wage increases in Southern Nevada lagged behind much of the country. Total employment in Clark County was up 1.6 percent year‑over‑year in March, compared with a 0.1 percent increase nationwide. However, average hourly wages locally in the first quarter were up 1.2 percent from a year earlier, compared with a 3.9 percent rise nationally, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Clark County’s pace of job growth tied for 22nd among the roughly 380 counties tracked in that study, while its pace of wage growth tied for 339th. Andrew Woods, manager of UNLV’s Center for Business and Economic Research, attributed the disparity between Las Vegas’ employment growth and wage growth to the types of jobs being added in Southern Nevada. He said the top three industries adding jobs in Clark County have been healthcare, nonrecreational and professional services, and construction, and that many of the in‑demand jobs in those sectors “are apt connected the little extremity of the income range” such as home health aides, temp workers and general laborers. Plus, once several years of elevated ostentation are factored in, it means that many workers in the middle and low end of the income scope “are struggling to support up with the summation successful prices,” he said.